Zhou Gu drank two jars of wine in the night and ended up sleeping until well into the next morning.
When he exited his room, he saw Su Rong sitting in the grand hall downstairs with a pair of scissors and a piece of colored paper, cutting something. Ziye sat next to her, watching her curiously, his eyes expressing surprise from time to time.
Zhou Gu leaned on the railing, observing them from above for a while. Neither of them noticed him, so he went back into his room to freshen up.
After a while, he came out to find Su Rong had set down the scissors. Ziye was admiring the paper cutout she had created, repeatedly praising her, "Lady Su Qi, you’re so talented! With this skill, could you stand a stall? I feel the elderly lady selling paper cutouts in the market is not as good as you. There are always many people queuing up to buy her work."
"I learned from her." Su Rong laughed, hearing footsteps, she turned her head, greeted Zhou Gu with a smile, "Zhou Gu, you finally woke up."
Zhou Gu, now freshened up, nodded to Su Rong, glanced at Ziye, "How did you find us?"
"I recovered, so, naturally, I came to look for you. Master, you can’t do without me." Ziye was quick to retort.
"Who says I can’t do without you? Weren’t I just fine yesterday when you weren’t around?" Zhou Gu stretched out his hand to grab the paper cutout from him, "What’s this? Let me have a look."
"It’s an image of you and Lady Su Qi roasting chickens on Phoenix Mountain." Ziye looked regretful, "It’s a pity that I had a stomach upset yesterday, so I didn’t get to taste Lady Su Qi’s roast chicken. The guards said that her roast chicken smelled so good that the whole of Phoenix Mountain was filled with its fragrance. They all craved for it as the wild chickens they roasted themselves tasted terrible."
Su Rong laughed.
On hearing this, Zhou Gu nodded, reminiscing about the delicious taste of yesterday, "Indeed, it was very good." he coolly shattered Ziye’s hopes, "Even if you were here yesterday, there would be none for you."
Ziye: "..."
The bond of growing up together was as thin as paper.
Zhou Gu sat down, turned to Su Rong, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
"No, I was waiting for you."
Zhou Gu frowned, "Wait for me? Aren’t you hungry?"
"Yes, I am. I didn’t expect you to sleep so late." Su Rong said, then called the waiter, "Bring the food!"
The waiter responded and quickly rushed off.
Zhou Gu grumbled, "I drank these two jars of wine you brought last night, that’s why I didn’t wake up till now. I knew it, drinking is troublesome."
Su Rong laughed. She had the same suspicions, "It’s okay. I had two pieces of Dim Sum, so I was not too hungry. Considering the fact that you have just woken up just in time, we can lunch just as well."
Zhou Gu nodded.
The waiter quickly brought the food. Zhou Gu was also hungry, he picked up his chopsticks, saying no more.
After the meal, Su Rong asked, "Do we continue to play outside, or should we go back to the city?"
"Play."
Su Rong blinked, "How long do you plan to leave Jiang Sheng hanging?"
"I don’t want to see him at all."
Su Rong looked surprised, "Can you do that?"
"Why not?" Zhou Gu scoffed, "If he’s displeased, let him find my grandfather."
Su Rong laughs, taking full advantage of his privileged status, "Okay, then I’ll continue showing you around. When you want to go back, we will go back."
Zhou Gu nodded.
After pondering, Su Rong said, "Let’s go to Peach Blossom Creek! There are scholars from Jiangning playing there today. Although there won’t be falling peach blossoms, Peach Blossom Creek is still worth a visit. Especially the fish in Peach Blossom Creek are very fat and tender, I can grill them for you."
Zhou Gu happily agreed, "Sure."
Hence, Su Rong took Zhou Gu to Peach Blossom Creek.
Peach Blossom Creek was scenic with crystal clear water. When Su Rong and Zhou Gu arrived, there were already many people gathered, men and women alike. Many were playing the wine-filled cup float game while just as many were spectators cheering, making it lively.
Zhou Gu wasn’t very interested in the wine-filled cup float game. After all, such elegant games were more popular in the capital. After watching with Su Rong for a while, he leaned into her and said, "Everyone else is engaged in such refined activities. Is it really appropriate for us to be catching fish to grill and eat?"
Su Rong nodded, "Since we’ve just had lunch, there’s no rush to grill fish. Once they’ve dispersed, we can catch fish and grill them without offending anyone."
Zhou Gu thought she had planned well and nodded.
The two of them hadn’t caused any commotion when they arrived. After watching from the side for a while, someone eventually noticed Su Rong, "Lady Su Qi?"
The person was a young, elegant and refined man. When his eyes lit up and he called out, many people instantly turned to look at Su Rong. For a moment, the spot where Su Rong and Zhou Gu stood became the focus of the crowd. However, most eyes were on Zhou Gu at Su Rong’s side—some were amazed, some curious, and some suddenly enlightened.
Zhou Gu didn’t expect Su Rong to garner so much attention, which also made him the center of scrutiny. He turned to su Rong speak in a subdued voice, "What’s going on with you? Wherever we go, you can’t keep a low profile."
Su Rong also replied in a subdued voice, "Probably because I’ve brawled with half of the people here."
Zhou Gu was speechless.
The first one to call Su Rong’s name was Jiang Xing, a distant relative of the Inspector of Jiangzhou, Jiang Sheng. He had once been chased by a vicious dog, which Su Rong saved him from. Since then, he’s had a fondness for Su Rong. He stood up to greet her with a surprised and delighted face, "Lady Su Qi, it’s been a while since I saw you last. Would you like to join us?"
"No, thanks. I don’t want to play. You guys enjoy, I’m just watching." Su Rong shook her head, smiled at him, "The Academy doesn’t often have holidays. Make the most of it."
Jiang Xing nodded, seeming to only then notice Zhou Gu, "And this gentleman is...?"
"My fiancé, Zhou Gu."
Jiang Xing was surprised, his face slightly changing color, he blurted, "For the past few days, there have been rumors that you were engaged, is it...is it...is it true?"
"Yes, it’s true." Su Rong nodded.
Jiang Xing took a step back as if realizing he had been impolite. He quickly bowed to Zhou Gu, "I beg your pardon, Brother Zhou."
Zhou Gu looked at Jiang Xing, then swept his gaze over the many shocked eyes, thinking that his future wife seems to be the object of quite a few people’s affection. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
He shook his head with his hands behind his back, "You’re too kind, Brother Jiang."
He turned to Su Rong and said, "Let’s go for a stroll elsewhere and not disturb their fun."
The implication being, look at you, you brought me here to show off and scared away your admirers.
Although Su Rong felt something was off about his words, but she didn’t quite grasp his meaning. She waved at Jiang Xing, "You guys enjoy, we won’t disturb you."
After the two left, silence fell upon the place for a good while.
Jiang Xing remained standing still for a long time. Someone came over and patted his shoulder, he sighed, "Young Master Zhou Gu from Duke’s Residence, he’s not someone we can compete with, Brother Jiang, you should give up."
Another person chimed in, "I told you that woman Su Rong was trouble, you wouldn’t listen. If she didn’t have an engagement that would be one thing, perhaps with your family background, you might have stood a chance. But who knew that her betrothed since childhood was none other than the youngest son of the Duke Residence. What’s left for us now but to stare enviously?"
"What kind of family is the Duke Residence that they gave Zhou Gu the chance to be engaged to Su Rong? It’s really shocking." Another person joined in, "Could it be as a concubine?"
Jiang Xing glared at him angrily, "Didn’t you hear? He’s her fiancé. A childhood engagement, how could it be for a concubine? Do you need a marriage contract for a concubine?"
"Yes, you’re right, I must have misunderstood." The man quickly apologized, "Brother Jiang, please don’t be upset."
Jiang Xing was usually a gentle guy, rarely getting into disputes. This man had apologized, so he didn’t pursue it further, saying instead, "Let’s continue our game!"
The crowd exchanged glances and nodded unanimously. But everyone knew that Jiang Xing’s fondness for Su Rong was no secret. If it weren’t for the past grudge between the Inspector of Jiangzhou’s Residence and the Governor’s Residence over Jiang Yunying’s broken engagement, Jiang Xing would have proposed marriage to Su Rong long ago.
But now, after all this fuss, it turned out that Su Rong had been engaged all along.
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